Georgetown Raiders’ forward Anthony Marra dishes off the puck before being taken down by Orangeville Flyers’ defender James Pitsadiotis during Saturday night’s Ontario Junior Hockey League contest at the Alcott Arena. Marra, an 18-year-old from Guelph, scored one of the goals in a 7-1 Raider victory.

Raiders’ new faces impress

By Eamonn Maher

Staff writer

Looking around the Georgetown Raiders’ dressing room last week, team captain Brendan Woods said it was a bit strange to be sitting amongst a few new but familiar faces.
The Raiders made several moves prior to the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Dec. 1 roster-cutdown date, including a blockbuster trade with the Stouffville Spirit and the acquisition of veteran defenceman Phil Kiss from the Newmarket Hurricanes.
The former Stouffville trio of forwards Alex Botten and Jacob Bauchman, along with goalie Knick Dawe, made an immediate impact Saturday night as Georgetown dismantled the visiting Orangeville Flyers 7-1 at the Alcott Arena.
Having played against the Spirit in last March’s OJHL semifinal series, won by Stouffville in seven games, Woods was thrilled about how the makeup of the club has been transformed over the past couple of weeks.
“It was a little weird at first to see them here, but they’re good guys and they work hard. They fit right in,” said the 20-year-old Woods, a second-year Raider from London.
“They know what they’ve got to do to win, so it’s good to have them on our side now. We’re excited to have so many older guys coming in. For a lot of us, it’s our last year and we feel we have a team now that should win every night.”
Botten and Bauchman each had two assists and plenty of opportunities to score as the Raiders now have three potent offensive lines to work with.
The 19-year-old Dawe wasn’t tested often in making 25 saves, while Kiss adds stability to a defence corps that has had to endure the recent departure of all-stars Thomas Welsh and Jake Emilio.
“We had a new owner coming in this year (Burlington’s Bill Court) and I knew he kind of wanted a rebuild because we had a lot of guys who’d left, but I also knew that the way our coach (Greg Walters) coaches, he wants to win every night and I figured we’d have a good team by the end of the year,” added Woods, who’s seeking an NCAA scholarship for next season.
Robbie Murden was named first star Saturday with two goals and two assists, with single markers going to Woods, Alex Adams on a penalty shot for his first of the season, Nick Perruccio, Drake Hart and Anthony Marra. Only about 200 spectators were in attendance.
The 21-11-2 Raiders were in Hamilton last night (Monday) to take on the last-place Red Wings and will visit Milton Friday to face the IceHawks, losers of five of their last six games.
On Saturday night, the Red Wings will be in town for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.